Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 28, 2026
07:41
Echocardiographic Evaluation of Atrial Communications before Transcatheter Closure
Published on: February 8, 2022
Inferior Left Atrial Diverticulum Communicating with the Right Atrium or Inferior Vena Cava: Prevalence and CT
Hae Jin Kim1, Sung Goo Park2, Sung-A Chang3,4
1Department of Radiology, Daejeon Eulji Medical Center, Eulji University, Daejeon 35233, Republic of Korea.
Journal of Cardiovascular Development and Disease
|May 26, 2026
Summary
Cardiac CT identified inferior left atrial diverticula with shunts (ILADSs), a novel interatrial communication, in 0.3% of patients. These ILADSs were often missed by echocardiography, highlighting CT
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Radiology
- Anatomy
Background:
- Inferior left atrial diverticula (ILAD) are rare anatomical variations.
- Interatrial communication is typically associated with specific congenital heart defects.
- The communication between the left atrium and right atrium/inferior vena cava via ILAD is a novel finding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of ILAD communicating with the right atrium or inferior vena cava (ILADSs).
- To characterize the cardiac CT features of these novel ILADSs.
- To compare ILADSs with interatrial septal aneurysms.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of 11,512 cardiac CT scans.
- Identification and characterization of ILAD with shunts (ILADSs).
- Comparison of ILADSs with interatrial septal aneurysms in a subset of patients.
Main Results:
- Prevalence of ILADSs was 0.3% (33/11,512) in the overall cohort.
- ILADSs were not detected by transthoracic echocardiography in 30 patients.
- Cardiac CT revealed involvement of a specific fatty space in all ILAD cases, but not in interatrial septal aneurysms.
Conclusions:
- Cardiac CT is effective in detecting incidental ILADSs.
- ILADSs represent a previously unrecognized type of interatrial communication.
- Echocardiography may miss these findings, underscoring the utility of cardiac CT.
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